INTRODUCTION TO THE AP EXAM ESSAY
AP Language and Composition
Read the material below which thoroughly explains the essay response section of the AP Language
exam and offers a great introduction for the next several modules. Read this material carefully and
actively.
INTRODUCTION TO THE ESSAY SECTION
Sometimes called the free-response questions, this section of the AP exam requires that you write three
essays. This essay section is normally two hours long. The suggested time for each essay is forty minutes.
You must write your three essays in this time period, and you must write an essay on each of the three
topics given; there are no alternative choices. You should expect one topic to be based on a fiction or
nonfiction reading passage and to call for an analysis of style. A second topic, also based on a reading
passage, calls for an argumentative essay. A third question may deal with a general topic related to
language, or it may approach a passage from an angle different from that of the first question. For
example, it may ask for a discussion of rhetorical purpose rather than an analysis of style. Remember
that each of the three essays equals one-third of the total essay score and that the total for the essay
portion equals 55% of the entire AP test score. A more detailed explanation of the essay scoring follows.
You will be given an essay-writing booklet in which to write your essays; the test booklet includes blank
space in which to plan your essays.
Ability Tested
This section tests your ability to demonstrate an understanding of how language works while
simultaneously demonstrating your ability to communicate intelligent ideas in essay form. You should
read the prose passages very carefully and then quickly articulate ideas because each essay should be
written in thirty-five to forty minutes. Your discussion of such literary aspects as tone, attitude, and
persuasion is essential to obtaining a good score.
Basic Skills Necessary
The basic skill necessary for the essay section is the ability to articulate and prove a thesis through
concrete examples. You must be able to write on any assigned subject. Your paragraphs should be well
developed, your overall essay organization should make sense, and your writing should demonstrate
college-level thinking and Style. The basic writing format of introduction, body, and conclusion is helpful,
but to achieve a high score, you must demonstrate how language creates an effect. Analysis of diction,
sentence style, and paragraph structure are vital tools in proving how a piece of writing works. Overall,
you must show that you can read the question (and any subsequent passage) carefully, plan an
intelligent thesis, organize and present valid and sufficient evidence while connecting such evidence to
the thesis, and use college-level skill with your own language.
Directions
Each essay topic has its own wording and therefore its own directions, but general instructions similar to
the following are printed on the cover of the essay test booklet:
Three essay questions are printed in this booklet. Use this booklet to make your notes. You will be told
when to open the essay-writing booklet and begin. Suggested writing time is given for each question.
INTRODUCTION TO THE AP EXAM ESSAY
AP Language and Composition
Analysis of Directions
Although each essay topic has its own specific requirements, use these general suggestions for all of
your essays.
1. Use the test booklet to plan your essay. A poorly planned or an unplanned essay frequently reveals
problems in organization and development.
2. Practice frequently so that you're comfortable with the timing.
3. Become familiar with the types of topics and comfortable with writing in a variety of modes.
4. Organize your ideas logically, and be careful to stay on the topic.
5. Write as legibly as possible; the readers have to be able to read your essay.
Suggested Strategies for Essays
Remember the following as you practice the essay.
· Use a standard format: introduction-body--conclusion.
· Clearly divide ideas into separate paragraphs; clearly indent the paragraphs.
· Stay on the topic; avoid irrelevant comments or ideas.
· Use sophisticated language and sentences with syntactic variety.
· Be organized and logical in your presentation.
ESSAY SCORING
Each of the three essays equals one-third of the total essay score, and the entire essay (free-response)
section equals 55% of the total AP score.
Each essay is read by experienced, well-trained high school AP teachers or college professors. The essay
is given a holistic score from one to nine. (A score of zero is recorded for a student who writes
completely off the topic-for example, "Why I think this test is a waste of money. A student who doesn't
even attempt an essay, who leaves a blank page, also receives a zero.) The reader assigns a score based
on the essay's merits as a whole, on what the paper does well; the readers don't simply count errors.
Although each essay topic has its own scoring rubric (scoring guide) based on that topic's specific
information, a general sample breakdown of the scoring for a style-analysis question is as follows:
High Score (9-8)
This essay clearly demonstrates a significant understanding of the passage, its style, and the essay
question. The author of this essay shows a significant comprehension of how the language in a passage
creates an effect. For a top-scoring essay, the language should be sophisticated; the sentences should
INTRODUCTION TO THE AP EXAM ESSAY
AP Language and Composition
have syntactic variety. Overall, this essay has intelligent ideas, sound organization, strong evidence, and
articulate diction.
Medium-High Score (7-6)
This essay completes the task of the essay topic well-it shows some insights but usually with less
precision and clarity than the high-score papers. Some of the observations the author makes may be
obvious instead of deeply insightful, or the observations may not be as fully substantiated as those of
the top-scoring essays. There may be lapses in correct diction or sophisticated language, but the essay is
generally well written.
Medium Score (5)
The medium-score paper completes the essay, but with no special insights; the analysis is lacking depth,
and it merely states t lie obvious. Because of these weaknesses, the ideas are predictable and the
paragraphs weak. The writer does not demonstrate thorough understanding of the effects of rhetorical
devices; he or she only observes that they are present in the passage. Language in the medium-score
essay is usually acceptable but fairly simple, and sentences are frequently of the same length and
pattern.
Medium-Low Score (4-3)
This paper is weaker than the "5" score because its author misses important ideas in the passage. This
essay summarizes the passage's ideas instead of analyzing them; it makes assertions without supporting
them with evidence; it pays little attention to rhetorical devices. Any essay that merely paraphrases the
passage will earn ho score higher than a "3."
Low Score (2-1)
This low-scoring, weak essay demonstrates minimal understanding of the topic or the passage. Perhaps
unfinished, this essay has ho analysis and little clarity. Usually little or no evidence is offered as a basis
for the writer's ideas. Incorrect assertions may be made about the passage. Stylistically, the paper may
show consistent grammatical problems, and sentence structure is usually simple and unimaginative.
TYPES OF ESSAY TOPICS
Although the wording varies, there are only a few categories of essay questions. When you've become
familiar with these, your planning should go much faster on the day of the test; this knowledge will also
help you to stay on the topic.
1. Agree or disagree. This common question type can also be considered part of the general-statement
category listed below. You can expect either a short sentence or two that have built-in controversy or
a longer reading passage for which you are asked to evaluate the validity of the author's ideas.
Persuasive writing is essential for this category.
INTRODUCTION TO THE AP EXAM ESSAY
AP Language and Composition
2. Author's attitude, tone, or point of view. Common in recent AP tests, this question type is based on a
reading passage in which you must read between the lines, read inferentially, to understand the
author's attitude toward the subject. Literary analysis is the thrust of this essay type.
3. Analyze effect. There's a good chance that this type of question will be asked on your AP exam. Like
questions on author attitude, these require an analytical essay based on a reading passage. However,
here you must understand how word choice, diction, syntax, and rhetoric work together to produce
an effect in a passage. Be sure that you understand the effect produced before you begin writing.
Uncertainty results in muddled ideas.
4. Author's purpose. Appearing only occasionally, these questions ask you to discuss why an author
writes what he or she does. You may, for instance, be asked to explain why a political speech is
written as it is or why an author describes the physical world as he or she does.
5. General statement about society or human nature. This topic is rarely based on a reading passage.
Frequently, it's placed as the final essay question. For example, you may be asked to describe a
favorite location from the perspective of two times in your life, to compare the dialects of different
groups of people, to comment on humanity after reading a one-sentence aphorism, or to explain
what importance knowledge has in your life. These topics are designed to let you use your own
experience and observations as evidence while reflecting on all humankind.
6. Comparison/Contrast. Although not often used, this type of topic does show up occasionally. These
questions are frequently based on two reading passages-- perhaps two authors on the same subject,
two descriptions of a location, or two drafts of the same work from one author. If you get a
comparison/contrast topic, be sure to read it carefully and analyze beyond the obvious similarities of
and differences between the passages.